Fly Me To The Moon
by einsteindog
Summary: Lexa is the fastest 3,200 meter runner for track and 5,000 meter runner for XC in the state. One day a car crash makes her lose her left leg below the knee. Clarke has just lost her dad. They bond in a support group at their high school and find comfort and support in each other.
1. Chapter 1

Fly me to the moon

The 100 AU (high school)

Lexa is the fastest 3,200 meter runner for track and 5,000 meter runner for XC in the state. One day a car crash makes her lose her left leg below the knee. Clarke has just lost her dad. They bond in a support group at their high school and find comfort and support in each other.

"COME ON LEXA! 300 METERS LET'S KICK IT IN!"

Lexa gritted her teeth as she rounded the bend and onto the back stretch of the track. She was running in the state qualifier for the 3,200 meters. She had been running extremely well all of her sophomore year, first winning the state cross country meet by twenty seconds and a record time of 17:42 and then coming strong into the track season tearing up the track every time she ran the 3,200. Now she was 300 meters away from finishing the race and qualifying for the big stage again.

As she reached the 200 meter mark, she stole a quick glance over her shoulder. The second place finisher was a good fifty meters behind her. Lexa grinned. She had this in the bag.

Turning onto the home stretch, Lexa started to pump her arms. She dug deep, and sprinted. As she crossed the finish line, she glanced at the clock. _10:01,_ she thought. _Not bad at all._ An exhausted smile on her face, she accepted the cup of water given to her and congratulated the other finishers as they crossed the line.

Once she had changed out of her spikes and into her trainers and sweats, she started her cool down lap. Halfway around the infield, dark hair fills her vision as her friend Octavia pulls her in for a hug. "Oh my gosh! You did it! Again! Holy shit!" Lexa laughed and patted her friend on the back. "Yeah, I did it!" She pulled away from Octavia and held her out at arm's length. "Look at you. Spikes?"

"Check."

"Good attitude?"

"Check."

"Remembering to relax your jaw on the back turn?"

"Check."

"Good. Now go out there and run like Bellamy found out about you dating Lincoln."

Octavia laughed. "Lex, we all know that I would lose him in the first 100 meters."

Lexa scrunched her nose. "Eh, more like fifty." Bellamy, while he was not the best runner, had gotten a scholarship to play basketball for Polis U, possibly the best school for people interested in an athletic career. His younger sister Octavia, a speed demon in the 400 meters, was looking for her first bid to state. A freshmen, she had surprised everyone at the first meet when she ran a 56.7 second lap.

Lexa clapped Octavia on the shoulder. "Good luck. I gotta go finish this cool down." She jogged off. Five seconds later, she was lifted off the ground as her coach Gustus wrapped her in an enormous bear hug. "Good job girl."

Lexa peeled herself out of his grasp. "Thanks. Can we talk about the race tomorrow? I kinda just want to relax and eat now."

Gustus nodded. "Sure. I'll let you soak in all the glory. I'm going to call Anya, tell her the news. I'll swing by tomorrow to talk."

Lexa smiled. "Thanks." She headed off toward the stands to find her bag of food. Hopefully the rest of the races would go as well as hers did.

It was the end of the track meet and everyone was loading their stuff onto the bus. Octavia had qualified easily, and most of the track team had too. Their coach Indra said it was the biggest crew of athletes she had ever brought to state. Lexa was really happy for the team, but right now all she wanted was to go home.

As the bus flew down the highway back to school, Lexa leaned her head against the window and closed her eyes. The sun was just setting, and the dying light had turned the sky a beautiful pinkish gold. She let the light wash over her face. She opened her eyes, just in time to see the black car smash into the side of the bus.

Then everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

_Beep. Beep. Pause. Beep. Beep._

Lexa's eyes slid open. She wasn't at home. Everything was too…sterile. It was too hushed. She felt the mattress beneath her, and it felt flimsy. She was cold. This wasn't right.

A man came into her view. "She's awake," he said to a nurse standing behind him. Then his gaze turned back to Lexa's face. "Hello Lexa," he said. "Do you know where you are?"

Lexa frowned. "A hospital?"

The man nodded. "Do you remember what happened?"

Lexa closed her eyes. She remembered the sunset, then a crunch followed by screaming, glass breaking, and then a crushing sensation. Then nothing.

"There was a car," she began slowly. "It hit the bus."

"Do you remember anything else?" the man asked.

Lexa put a hand to her forehead. "No. Who are you?"

"My name is Dr. Marcus Kane," the man said. "A drunk driver hit your bus. Your lower left leg got trapped in-between a crushed bus seat and a piece of the car. We couldn't save it."

Lexa opened her eyes in shock. "What do you mean you couldn't save it?" She looked down. There she was, under a thin blanket. Her eyes traveled down her body. There was her waist, her hips, her thighs, her knees, and then suddenly she only had one leg. "No. No. This can't be happening," she moaned. "No. Please no." Tears slipped out of her eyes as she stared at the place where her lower left leg used to be. _This isn't real,_ she thought. But when she closed her eyes and opened them again, her left leg still wasn't there.

Dr. Kane placed a hand on her shoulder. "Your surgery went very well. You are a very strong girl. We estimate that it will only be four months before you can get your prosthetic leg. I know you are a runner, and there is a very good possibility that you can get a running leg. Ms. Woods, your life isn't over. I know this is going to be tough, but you can do this."

Lexa flopped back onto her pillow. Silent tears were streaming down her face. "Did-was anyone else hurt?"

"In the crash? No. No one was."

Lexa nodded. "Can I see my sister now please?"

Dr. Kane sighed. "She's downstairs filling out paperwork. She'll be up in a minute. Do you need anything else?"

Lexa shook her head. "Just my sister please."

Dr. Kane left. Lexa stared up at the ceiling as the nurse continued to check her vitals. _My leg is gone. My leg is gone._ Those four words echoed around in her head as she fought back tears. _What am I going to do? I'm never going to be able to run again._

Lexa heard a soft knock on the door and she sat up. Anya, her older sister, was standing in the doorway, a tired but worried expression on her face. When Lexa saw her, a fresh wave of tears spilled over her cheeks, dripping onto her hospital gown.

Anya sat down in the chair beside the bed. "It's okay, Lexa."

Lexa leaned forward into her sister's embrace and cried. First her parents, then her best friend Costia, now this. Every time she thought she was getting over her pain, something else happened to re-open the wounds.

After a couple minutes of sobbing, Lexa pulled away. "The driver of the other car-did he die?"

Anya grimaced. "Unfortunately no. However, his family has offered to pay the hospital bill costs, so this won't cut into us." She looked at Lexa. "I told Gustus this morning. He's coming later today. Do you want anyone else to come and visit?"

Lexa shook her head. "I can't let anybody see me like this."

Anya stood up and smoothed out her pants. "Have you eaten yet?"

Lexa pursed her lips. "No. I'm not hungry."

"You need to get something in you. It'll be good for you. Just because you lost a leg does not mean that you can wallow in self-pity. I'm getting you some food." Anya left the room.

Lexa looked at the door, her eyes following Anya walk down the hall. That was one of the things she loved about Anya; she would push her to do what was right even when Lexa was digging her heels in the dirt. For the first time since she had woken up, a small smile cracked over her face.

Lexa's meeting with Gustus didn't go very well. First, she had burst into tears when he walked into the room because it was just a reminder of how her running career was over. Next, because of the crying, her body had spat up a bit of the Jell-O that Anya had made her eat, resulting in two nurses hosing her down in the bathroom. Lexa felt like a mess. She couldn't even take care of herself properly. She fell into a fitful sleep, dreaming about running through the woods, over hills and jumping over stumps. When she woke up, all she was greeted with was darkness and the sharp pain of reality.

The next day, Octavia came. This time it was Lexa who was doing the comforting while she watched Octavia silently cry. "Come on, Octavia. Stop crying please and give me the gossip."

Octavia sniffled, and then her face brightened. "Oh! Well, I'm not supposed to tell you this, but when you come back to school, the team is planning a welcome back party….." Octavia kept chatting, but the only part Lexa heard was _going back to school._

Going back to school meant seeing everyone.

Seeing everyone meant stares and whispers.

Stares and whispers meant pity.

And Lexa couldn't deal with pity.

"…..and he said that he has liked me for a really long time, and he asked me out."

Lexa started. "Sorry, what? I kinda drifted off for a second."

Octavia rolled her eyes. "Lincoln, the really cute triple jumper asked me out."

Lexa smiled at her friend. "Good for you! You guys have been circling around each other for ages."

"We have not."

"Yes, you have."

"We were very subtle."

"He was. You weren't."

Octavia snorted. "I am the queen of subtle."

"Ehhh, more like a peasant."

A soft _beep_ interrupted their banter. Octavia pulled out her phone, and rolled her eyes. "Uugh, it's Bellamy. He wants me to come home." She stood up and hugged Lexa. "I'll be here tomorrow, okay?"

Lexa plastered a fake smile onto her face. "Okay."


	3. Chapter 3

UPDATE:

Hey guys

So I realized that explaining exactly how prosthetics work and how Lexa is going to get hers would take waayyy to long so we are skipping three months ahead. Lexa has her main leg (for walking), but she doesn't have enough money to get a running leg (sometimes they can cost up to 70,000). Anya makes her go to a group therapy session, were she meets Clarke.

Please be patient. This weekend is going to be very hectic because I am starting something HUGE in my personal life, but I promise an update soon! :)


	4. Actual Chapter Three

Chapter Three

 _Three Months Later_

"UUUUUUGGHHHHHHH."

"Octavia, it's not going to come off."

"Shut up Lexa and help me."

"You see the jar? It's glass. Glass breaks. We can break the jar and get the pasta sauce out easily."

"No."

"Yes."

"No. This is not about efficiency. This is about honor."

Lexa threw her hands in the air and huffed air out through her nostrils. It had been three months since the crash. In those three months, Lexa had gone to more physical therapy sessions, psychiatric sessions, and prosthetic meetings than she could count. Exactly fourteen days ago, Lexa had been gifted with her prosthetic leg. It was a clunky thing, with a cup that went over a suction sock that was fitted around her 'stump'. A metal rod called a pylon was connected to a fake rubber foot that went into her shoe. While it certainly wasn't as good as her normal leg, Lexa could walk again. And that was a huge achievement in itself.

What Lexa had learned about herself in her physical therapy sessions was that she was seriously weak. She did so many core, hip, and upper body exercises that Octavia started calling her 'Commander Lexa.' Over time, she became stronger, and the doctors knew that as soon as she got her running leg, she would be able to run again.

There was a problem, however. Her prosthetic running leg would cost around $20,000. Anya had some money reserved in a bank account, but even with that, they only had $5,000. Lexa started to work as a waitress after school in order to put money toward the leg, but they still had a long way to go. It was incredibly frustrating.

Lexa had skipped the rest of school, and as a result, Octavia came over to her house almost every day. It was summer vacation, she said.

At the present moment, Octavia was struggling with a jar of tomato sauce. With a final twist, she slammed the jar onto the counter and screamed. "DAMN YOU, YOU PIECE OF SHIT!"

Lexa rolled her eyes. "Give up now?"

Octavia slumped onto the floor. "Yes. You try please." She threw the jar at Lexa, who caught it. With an easy twist, the lid popped right off. Grinning smugly, Lexa dumped the sauce into a pan and set it on the stove to heat up. She turned around to smirk at Octavia, whose mouth was open. "That was easy."

"Please. I loosened it up for you."

"Nah, you're just weak."

At that moment, Anya burst in through the front door. "Lexa, enough of this bullshit. You are still hurting, and your psychologist just called me to tell me you haven't been opening up in sessions. You are going to a group therapy session."

Lexa groaned. "Anya, I don't need that. I am fine."

Anya stormed up to her, and put a finger in her chest. "Don't talk to me like that. You and I both know that you have been bottling up your emotions. Now, I got an address from your psychologist. Eat fast; we're leaving in thirty minutes." She stalked off to her room and slammed the door. Octavia turned to Lexa with her eyebrows raised. "Everything okay?"

Lexa sighed. "Yeah, she's just been really stressed with working so much to save up for my running leg." She turned back to the stove. "Sauce is done. You got the pasta ready?"

Octavia scrambled to her feet. "Yup, and the meatballs are done too." 

* * *

Anya pulled into the parking lot of an old church. Lexa stared out her window, watching a few people trickle into a set of old oak doors. Anya shut off the engine, and turned to Lexa. "It's only an hour. I'll be back soon. If you don't like it, we'll find something else. Just-just-please try this."

Lexa looked at Anya. "Thank you for how hard you've been working. Really. It means a lot." She got out of the car, and waved goodbye as Anya pulled out of the parking lot. Turning back to the doors, she rolled her eyes and walked inside.

Just like the therapy sessions in movies, there were a bunch of chairs set up in a circle. Lexa chose the one nearest to the back of the room, and watched the rest of the people walk in. She looked at her phone. _8:25. Shit. This is going to be a long night. I wonder-_

"Is this seat taken?"

Lexa looked up, and saw possibly the most beautiful human being on the planet. Hair like gold and eyes like the sky paired with a tired but observant face. Lexa blinked. "Oh, uh, not at all."

The angel smiled. "Thanks." She sat down, and Lexa gulped. _Holy crap. Ok, Lexa get a hold of yourself. Snap out of it. She's here for the same thing you are. Get it together. Come on Le-_

Her pep talk was interrupted by a dry but fragile voice. "Hey everyone. Thanks for coming. My name is Jasper, and, well, who wants to go first?"

A man sitting three seats away from Lexa spoke up. "Um. Hi. My name is Jeffrey."

"Hello, Jeffrey," the circle of people muttered.

Jeffrey nodded back and swallowed. "Uh, hi. My, uh…my wife died last year. This next week will be the anniversary of her death…."

Lexa stopped paying attention. Her attention was focused on the blond sitting next to her. _I've seen her before. Where? Surely I would remember a face like hers. She looks young, maybe about my age? God, she's pretty._ She blinked, and realized that Jeffrey had stopped talking. Jasper nodded and said, "Thank you for sharing, Jeffrey. Who's next?"

The blond sitting next to Lexa spoke up. "Uh, I'll go. My name's Clarke."

"Hello Clarke."

Clarke looked down. "Four months ago, my dad was in a car crash. He...he went into a coma. After a week, my mom decided to pull the plug. It's been really hard, because…because I think I blame her for letting my dad die. But, I know that she made the right decision. He wouldn't have wanted to live like that. I…I still hate my mom for it, though." Clarke paused. "I want to blame her. I really do. It's just been hard realizing that I can't." She stopped as a tear trickled down her cheek. "I really miss him."

Lexa listened, taking in what Clarke was saying. Jasper took a breath. "Thank you for sharing Clarke. Anyone else?"

To Lexa's surprise, she found herself saying, "Hello. My name's Lexa."

"Hello Lexa."

Lexa took a deep breath. "Three months ago, I had just qualified for my first State Track and Field Championships. I was ranked first, and I was on top of the world. Everything changed when…a drunk driver hit the side of the school bus, trapping my lower left leg." Lexa felt a lump in her throat. "They couldn't save it." She reached down, and lifted up her pant leg, showing everyone her pylon. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Clarke's hand go to her mouth. "I just got my prosthetic leg a couple of days ago. I was…hopefully I still will be an avid runner, but I can't run on this leg. I can only walk. My older sister and I have been saving money for a running leg, but it is ridiculously expensive. She took care of me after my parents died in a fire. We look out for each other. She started to work two jobs, and I picked up a part-time shift in order to save up. But…" Lexa trailed off. "It's been really hard." She looked up at the ceiling, trying to stem the tears forming in her eyes. _Don't cry. You are too strong to cry._

Jasper nodded at Lexa and said his standard "Thank you for sharing, Lexa."

As the next person spoke up, Lexa tuned out. She felt tears sliding down her cheeks. She stared down at her hands, but was surprised when a paler, slighter one gripped her right hand. She looked at Clarke, surprised. Clarke's eyes were full of…understanding. Not pity. She saw that in almost everyone's eyes when she told them about her leg. Lexa nodded her silent thanks, and squeezed Clarke's hand back.

When the session ended, Lexa walked out to the curb. Anya wasn't there yet, so she sat down on the pavement and stared up at the stars. It was a cloudless night, and thousands of twinkling stars smiled down at her.

"Beautiful, isn't it?"

Lexa looked over her shoulder and saw Clarke walking over toward her. Lexa turned back, and gazed up. "After I got home from the hospital, I stayed up all night looking at the stars."

Clarke sat down next to her, and looked up too. "I love the night. It's…peaceful, but dangerous at the same time."

Lexa grunted in agreement, and the two of them continued their stargazing. They were cut short by headlights pulling into the parking lot, and Lexa recognized Anya's car. She stood up. "Nice meeting you Clarke."

"You too, Lexa. See you next week?"

Lexa stared into sky blue eyes. "Maybe." 

* * *

Lexa was quiet on the drive home. Anya didn't press her on what happened. They drove in silence, the warm night air whipping through the opened windows. When they got home, Lexa showered and went to bed. That night, for the first time since the accident, no nightmares plagued her dreams.


End file.
